Tesla unveils new big rig and Roadster

Tesla has upstaged its own debut of an electric heavy duty truck by unveiling a new Roadster. Chief Executive Elon Musk says it will be the fastest production car ever. Ryan Brooks reports.

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A media blitz as Elon Musk rolls out one of his biggest ideas yet.
The brand-new Tesla Semi taking to the stage in Los Angeles on Thursday night (November 16), with the CEO getting fans pumped about its sleek design and self-driving technology.
It's the bang Tesla needed just weeks after its worst financial quarter ever, And as Reuters' Alexandria Sage reports, the crowd certainly seemed to buy into the hype.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) REUTERS REPORTER ALEXANDRIA SAGE SAYING:
"Behind me you can see that people are jostling to get a picture of Elon Musk's new Tesla semi, this is the big rig, the class eight vehicle that he says will drive 500 miles on a single charge. That is much further than people were expecting in the industry. Musk also said that the vehicle will be cheaper, 20% than a diesel vehicle, and of course
diesel,
diesel is now what rules the highways."
Musk says electric semi trucks are key to his company's push to shift the economy away from fossil fuels, although that'll mean big investment in new factories, and a lot more spending that the billion dollars per quarter that Tesla's already pumping into a plant for it's Model 3 sedans.
But this wasn't a night for over-thinking the details, and ever the showman, Musk even managed to upstage the truck fans had flocked in to see.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) REUTERS REPORTER ALEXANDRIA SAGE SAYING:
"Tesla always likes to put on a show, and tonight it was no different- a roadster, a new Tesla roadster, drove out the back of a semi-truck and Elon Musk announced that yes there will be a new roadster that will drive up to 250 miles per hour with an acceleration of 0 to 60 in less than 2 seconds."
Musk didn't give an idea of what the new Semi would cost, or say how it would be made, but experts are already warning it could prove to be an expensive distraction for Tesla if it can't compete with time-tested diesel rigs.
America's fourth-largest small freight company, Old Dominion, has already told Reuters they've opted out.